WHERE’S THE FEEDBACK?

Feedback is a daily-used word in the recruitment world, and the more exposure to it you have the more you realise how important it is – particularly in a day to day sense.

We live by it as recruiters.  Both good and bad – positive and negative – beautiful and not-so. It’s a part of the gig and one that you learn to deliver with a certain level of tact for every scenario it has to be offered in.

As time goes by in this job, you realise more and more the importance of internal feedback in the work place and the importance it can have on staff retention and overall contentment within a team. The power of “well-done”, “I really appreciate that” or a simple “thank you” cannot be underestimated.

Speaking to candidates every day, we unfortunately hear how under-valued and generally “in the dark” people feel at work all too often. So many good operators doing a great job, but due to a lack of recognition or feedback, they are going home doubting their output and feeling generally invisible within their role. Equally, this is often a shame for the employer as well. The employee is often highly valued and would be a loss to a business and a team if and when, they leave for pastures greener.

Providing constructive feedback is one of the most valuable things I’ve received throughout my career personally.

It’s a platform to clearly understand where your shortfalls are and how to improve on them to be better at your job. Delivering such information is where the true skill and value lies. Most importantly, the information should always be delivered from a trusted source. Being told that you have done something incorrectly, or could have done it better/more efficiently is often a hard pill to swallow, so making sure it comes from a source of trust is crucial. If not it can create more fear – so handle with care, but nevertheless make sure you handle it!

As well as constructive feedback – positive reinforcement of a job well done is of great value. Keeping staff acutely aware of how well they are tracking will maintain a measuring stick of what “good” work is. Unless you’ve been told, how do you know?